BNPB Finds Dozens of Hotspots Due to Forest Fires in W.Kalimantan
16 August 2018 11:54 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Pontianak - The National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) noted that there were 94 hotspots due to forest fires in several districts/cities in West Kalimantan on Wednesday, August 15.
“From the Modis satellite monitoring, there are 84 hot spots in the medium category, and 7 hot spots in the high category, out of a total of 489 hotspots across Indonesia,” said BNPB Head of Information Center and Public Relations Sutopo Purwo Nugroho.
According to Sutopo, the hotspots have sprung up in the past week. “It has been more than a week, there are many hotspots due to the forest fires in West Kalimantan because they were deliberate,” he said.
Although the effort to extinguish the fire continues to be carried out, there is still a large amount of burned land. “So that the patrol must continue to be improved and prevention of forest and land fires is carried out,” he said.
Head of Mempawah Climatology and Geophysics Meteorology Agency, Wandayantolis said the air quality in Mempawah Regency and Pontianak City and its surroundings began to be observed unhealthy on Tuesday, August 15.
“Based on the monitoring, the air quality in Mempawah, Pontianak City and surrounding areas are categorized as unhealthy, it can disrupt health, especially breathing,” he said.
He said that the prospect of rainfall was expected to decrease until the end of the two days in August 2018. Therefore, he urged the public to reduce outdoor activities.
“Even if you want to go outside, you should use a mask and drink enough water to avoid health problems,” he said.
ANTARA